Contextualizing the Civic Model of Political Finance

Abstract This chapter argues that, although political finance rules should be normatively assessed in tandem with the party system, in order to develop more precise recommendations for political finance design and reform, tailored to specific political systems, we need to consider a number of contextual factors. These include electoral institutions, institutions of decentralization, form of government, and party organization. Some of these factors may directly impact on a country’s party system. But even when they do not, they should still be considered in the analysis at this stage as they can help to qualify the evaluation of party system/political finance combinations and thereby formulate more nuanced judgements that are well suited to the design of rules in a practical setting.